Ordinary Days

You know how some days are crazy, some days are bad, some days are crazy-great and some days are just ordinary?  I use to look forward to the crazy-great days.  And I use to get bored with the ordinary days.

That was back when I was young and carefree.  (Translation: single, kid-free, mortgage-free, etc.)

It seems like the past few years have been filled with some crazy days, a few bad days, even fewer crazy-great days and mostly lots of ordinary days.

When I was young and carefree, I use to get bored with ordinary days.  But now my ordinary days are filled with this...

 And this... 

 And this...

You know what....  Who needs crazy-great days?  I'm okay with the ordinary.

Toofers

Without further ado... introducing, Snuggles' first teeth!

And just in case you can't see them in the photo above, here's a close-up of the toofers.

If you look very closely, you can see a third tooth making an appearance on the right. That one showed up Sunday morning.  Three teeth in two weeks!

New Things

It seems like every day Snuggles learns (or does) something new.  Here are a few pictures to show you what Snuggles has been up to lately.

He figured out how to drink from a straw.

He's really trying to move around.  He mostly just scoots short distances on his rear end, but it's not really intentional. Did I mention he loves balls?

His hair is finally long enough to make a shampoo mohawk.

And he has mastered several variations of this cute flirty grin.

Lock up your daughters.  He's gonna be a lady killer!

10 Months

Can you believe this little booger is 10 months old?!

 The Tripod Pose

Snuggles isn't crawling or walking yet, but he does this weird balancing act on his crossed legs. Here's a picture of him at the daycare center last week, demonstrating what I call the "tripod pose".  That's what it looks like to me when he balances like this, like a strange yoga pose.  He also does pretty well standing supported or when holding onto something.

 Look, Mom... I'm cute!

We can't seem to keep Snuggles in clothing that fits because he's growing like a weed!  Thankfully we have friends who are kind enough to loan us clothes for Snuggles to wear.  The pjs in the photo above are size 12 months, although I think they run a little small for 12 months.  He's still a little too small for most 12 months clothes, but he has definitely outgrown his 9 months clothes.  So we either dress him in tight clothes that are too short or in baggy clothes that are too long.

 So happy together

I took this picture of Snuggles and Guitarman last Friday.  We had a family movie night in the park behind our church. All of us were bundled up in blankets and sweatshirts because it got chilly after the sun went down.  We had such a fun time watching "Monsters Inc.". (Snuggles was interested in the movie for a short time, but then he fell sleep in his stroller.)

I'm trying my best to capture a photo of Snuggles' two budding teeth, so stay tuned for the big reveal of his pearly whites.

My Son, The Thief

Until recently, I tried to avoid taking Snuggles to the store.  But Snuggles is big enough now that he loves riding in the cart... The busier the store, the more he enjoys it because busy spells lots of activity to observe and categorize in his little file cabinet brain.

After delaying the Wally World trip until the situation was desperate, I had to shop for baby essentials that we seem to run out of everyday, namely diapers, wipes, baby food, and now formula.  [Did I mention the little snot stopped nursing cold turkey, and he refuses to drink any formula except the expensive stuff?!  I'm a little bitter.]

So Snuggles (happily) and I (begrudgingly) went to the Big W while Guitarman taught a college class on children's ministries.  As soon as I piled his pudgy little bum into the shopping cart, Snuggles got really excited.  He bopped to an inaudible beat as we walked into the store...

and were met with utter chaos.

Carts teetered with groceries, lining the aisles 3-wide like the Daytona 500.  Small children darted out in front of overloaded carts.  Busy WalMart cronies unloaded gargantuan boxes of product onto endless rows of shelves.

Snuggles and I weaved around people, and squeezed our way into the baby food aisle.  I searched through rows of jars to locate the food I knew Snuggles wouldn't spit out: bananas (check), apples and oats (check), green beans (check), sweet potatoes (check).  I turned to load jars of pears and prunes into our cart just in time to see Snuggles had reached over as far as the child restraint belt would allow him, and had stolen what appeared to be a small bag of beef jerky from the cart beside us.  Fascinated, Snuggles turned the plastic bag around his hands... The man didn't seem to notice Snuggles had pilfered his jerky.  Dressed in dirty work clothes, the man was busy barking at someone on the other end of his cell phone, "I'm here at the formula section, but I don't see any blue cans!"  I grabbed the stolen beef jerky from Snuggles' sticky fingers and quietly returned it to its rightful owner.  Snuggles hollered at me for taking his stash.  Before Snuggles could blow my cover, I zipped the cart around Flustered Dad to the safety of the diaper aisle.

[I hope Snuggles actually stole the jerky from Flustered Dad, not someone else.  Otherwise poor Flustered Dad probably questioned his sanity when he reached the checkout lane with random beef jerky in his cart, and someone with a taste for shriveled beef byproducts missed their salty treat.]

Snuggles, the thief.  Guilty as charged.

Speaking of the checkout lanes, someone please explain to me why WalMart refuses to open more than 4 checkout lanes at a time!  No matter how long the lines are, nevermind the screaming children waging mini-mutinies around their mothers' ankles.  Forget the sickly-looking senior citizens leaning on their canes, strength waning as they wait in a line 5-carts deep.  Despite the sea of tired customers toting cartons of melting ice cream, WalMart refuses to open more lanes.  It's ridiculous.

Thankfully, we managed to leave WalMart without Snuggles committing additional felonies.  A short time later, I changed him into his footed pj's, and I wished my little jailbird "good night".

Love Thursday

Some time ago, one of my favorite bloggers posted a list of the things she loves about her family. She called it "Love Thursday".  I'm poaching her idea for today.

Because I need it. [Thinking about the blessings in my life helps me forget about my craptastic day.]

I love... 

.... finding Snuggles asleep in his crib first thing in the morning, curled up in his blanket like a twisty pretzel.

.... that I get a fluttering feeling in my chest when I look forward to an evening out with Guitarman.

.... salsa and queso at Jalapenos.

.... finding money in the pocket of jeans I haven't worn in awhile.

.... puppies.
 
.... sleeping in on Saturday morning.

.... flowers, notes and little gifts, reminders that Guitarman thinks about me when we're apart.

.... thunderstorms.

.... when Guitarman gets up with Snuggles so I can sleep in on Saturday morning.

.... watching old episodes of "Friends" and "Frazier".

.... hugging my family and friends after a lengthy time apart.

.... Guitarman's laugh, especially when I get to be the one who makes him laugh.

.... chocolate brownies right out of the oven.

.... that Snuggles' face lights up when I walk into the room.

.... receiving snail mail from my mom.

.... climbing into a big bed with clean, cool sheets.

.... long walks in the warm ocean surf.

.... how Snuggles' hair sticks up after his bedtime bath.

.... being invited to someone's house for dinner.

.... that Guitarman holds my hand when I'm too sad to speak.

.... the perfectly straight, brilliantly green lines on our freshly-mowed lawn.

.... rocking with Snuggles when he's sleepy and wants to cuddle.

.... a fresh stick of gum.

.... chatting with friends online.

.... reading a good book, preferably with a cup of coffee in hand.

.... pouring my heart out to Taco, knowing that somehow she understands the emotion behind the words.

.... sitting in front of a fireplace when it's cold outside.



Happy Love Thursday.

To Wean or Not to Wean...

[Warning: The following blog contains content related to breastfeeding.  If you're uncomfortable with this topic, you might want to stop reading now.]

To wean or not to wean... that is the question.

I woke up Friday morning to begin my usual routine with Snuggles... He began nursing, and then immediately let go and started screaming.  I recognized his "I'm hurting" cry, so I scrambled to figure out what happened.  I checked his hands and feet, his head, his legs, wondering if I accidentally sat on him or pulled his hair.  What's wrong with my Snuggle bug?!  Then, suddenly it occurred to me.... I wonder if he's teething?

I stuck my finger in his mouth, and sure enough!  There were two little buds of sharp teeth poking through his bottom gums!  Snuggles' pearly whites finally decided to make an appearance.

I guess this means I can cancel Snuggles' upcoming denture fitting.

I took Friday off work, and Monday was a holiday.  So I was home with Snuggles all weekend, which was the perfect time for him to start teething... depending on how you look at it, I guess.

Snuggles refused to nurse all weekend.  That means I spent the entire weekend pumping.  I'm not a huge fan of breastfeeding, but I'd rather do that then pump.  I hate being hooked up to that stupid machine, sitting there trapped like a cow on a milking carousel, listening to the monotonous *weee oosh, weee oosh* of the pump.  Ugh.

Knowing Snuggles was slowing starting to self-wean over the past few months, I've tried to feed Snuggles several different brands of powdered formula using samples I received in the mail.  I wanted to see if he would take formula so I could begin reducing the number of pumping sessions I have to do when I'm at work.  The little stinker refused every powdered formula I tried.  Since he refused to nurse last weekend, I turned to the last remaining option: ready-to-serve formula in a can.  [Translation: Ex-pen-sive!]

At first Snuggles refused the expensive stuff.  But when I didn't feed him anything else, he eventually got hungry enough to drink the formula... but only warm.  (I wonder where he gets being particular about his food?!)

I supplemented with expensive-formula over the weekend since I couldn't keep up with Snuggles' demand through pumping. As of today, Snuggles still refuses to nurse.  He starts crying and turning his head as soon as I put him into the nursing position.  He's just no longer interested.

I called my Mom/On-call Nurse this morning to ask her opinion. She confirmed what I suspected:  Snuggles is self-weaning.  He's done with nursing, on his way to whole milk.  Mom recommended I continue pumping as long as I can, and to supplement with formula when necessary.  In 2 months, when Snuggles is 12 months old, I can switch to whole milk.

I'm seriously considering weaning Snuggles off breastmilk entirely.  Please don't report me to the nursing nazis.

I'm so ready to be done!  I don't want to pump non-stop for the next two months.  I'm leaning toward pumping for a few more weeks while I transition Snuggles to formula.  (Cold turkey would reek havoc on his digestion and could cause mastitis for me. No thanks.)

I've read lots of literature.  I understand the benefits of breastfeeding for Snuggles and me, and I know the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastmilk through 12 months.  But I have to be honest, it's only by the grace of God I made it this far.

I think it's time.  The cow needs a break.